“My heart just sank and I thought — oh my god how close could I get to one million dollars,” Karen told the CBC’s Devin Heroux. “You got to be kidding me. My stomach is in knots just thinking about it right now.”

“That should have been a touchdown,” her husband added. “I need to get in touch with the CFL. The guy was eight yards behind the guy running into the end zone. And the Bomber guy fell on his own.”

Karen was also interviewed live on SportsCentre after the game by TSN’s Darren Dutchyshen and Jennifer Hedger. Karen, who is a Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan, handled it with class.

Still, you couldn’t help but feel heartbroken for Karen as she told TSN her first priority was going to be giving the money to her daughter so she could stay at home to look after her one-year-old granddaughter.

“That million dollars would have let my daughter stay home for another couple years, so she doesn’t have to go to work to leave her one-year-old,” said Karen, who added that she would help babysit.

Bad penalties happen all the time in sports. Athletes and fans have to deal with it and move on. But it doesn’t have to be that way for Karen.

Safeway and the CFL have a tremendous opportunity to right a wrong. They can turn an embarrassing story into a heartwarming one.